Tomorrow
by silentdisco
Summary: Takes place after 7.01 "Resurrection". Calleigh begins to process the long day behind her. EC/hiphuggers.


Finally. One of the longest days of her life was over. Calleigh was no stranger to chaos. She'd been the target of a serial killer, had had guns held to her head; been kidnapped, harassed on the Internet, been shot (thankfully, there was Kevlar involved), and nearly run over by a car. And that was just her professional life. In her personal life, she dealt with the deaths and injuries of close friends, babysat her alcoholic father, and had her heart broken. On more than one occasion. She should've learned from those, she thought to herself.

But it wasn't personal demons or the stress of a job in law enforcement that was bothering her this particular evening. No, it was a boy. A stupid boy. And she was mad at herself for letting it get to her.

She could deal with the murder of the new medical examiner she never met, her ballistics lab catching fire, the death and resurrection of her beloved boss. Ambush on an armored truck? No problem. Messy, inevitable break up with Jake for the third time? Not so much.

Calleigh was thankful that the locker room was empty. Packing up at the end of a grueling shift, she took a moment to reflect on the night ahead of her. She cradled her head in her hands and sighed. This was going to be a long one.

Jake and her were always complicated. Academy rivals that dated and fell in love. Difficult break up when his job as an undercover officer ruined their relationship. Unbelievable reintroduction ten years later. And they fell in love again.

It wasn't the same as the first time, of course. Disappointment from their Academy relationship and virtually all those that followed made Calleigh very cautious. They probably moved too fast, going on vacation together mere weeks after they'd begun dating again, sleeping over at each other's places, and rediscovering just how good the sex had been years before. Sure, emotions were involved, for both of them, but Calleigh still had her reservations about allowing herself to get too used to the relationship. They took a break when Eric accidentally spilled the beans about them to Stetler, but got back together in a heartbeat. Their relationship hit a rocky patch when she discovered his minor problem with alcohol the same day she stared down a Dodge Magnum with her .45, but it most certainly was not over.

And then Jake dropped off the radar. Didn't answer calls, wasn't at the police department, the crime lab, or in the field, and it hurt. She quickly figured out the reason, that he'd probably gone undercover again, but it still hurt. Reservations did not guard her heart completely. But in a matter of time, she accepted the situation and continued with her life, as she'd always done when something went wrong. She vaguely thought about the possibility that he would inevitably resurface, but she pushed it far from her conscious thoughts and buried herself in her job.

Today, he finally showed up, and Calleigh was caught completely off guard. Jake was still good looking, despite a little extra scruffiness, and her emotions came flooding back. A part of her would always love him in the way that one loves a person who had a significant impact on their life. That part seemed to expand upon seeing him again, but it was at odds with reopened wounds she had collected over the years. After their initial conversation, a little bit of love and a lot of genuine concern won out, and she was touched when he returned later with evidence to help their case. She cared for him in the way that close friends do when she learned how he got the evidence and what was going to happen for him.

And then Jake pulled the wildcard. He asked Calleigh to wait for him, to continue loving him the way he still loved her. The part of her that always had and always would begged her to say yes. But her mind won out, and she knew she made the best decision when she told him she couldn't.

His hands and lips on her cheek felt wonderful, and she allowed herself to enjoy them. But then it was time to get back to work and put off the internal war of emotions raging through her heart and mind.

Now the shift was over, and she was forced to deal with it. Closing her eyes and sighing once more, Calleigh opened the floodgates holding back her emotions.

"Calleigh?"

She was so lost in thought that she didn't hear Eric come in.

Eric. The person she most wanted to see, but at the same time dreaded seeing. Their relationship was almost as complicated as Calleigh's history with Jake, although theirs had never taken a break. Not for ten years, nor ten minutes. She knew how he felt about her. How he probably always had. And if she were honest with herself, she'd admit to herself that she probably felt the same way about him. But it was terrifying. Even more so than waiting for Jake to come home after long, dangerous undercover operations. Because it was something new. In a masochistic way, she was used to heartbreak. She was used to being abandoned by men. But she somehow knew that if she and Eric didn't work out, it would be more painful than any other relationship that ended before. And she knew Eric wasn't going to abandon her, so she couldn't count on being able to get out before they got in too deep. She didn't know what to do about him, but at the moment she was still reeling from what happened that afternoon. She opened her eyes and lifted her head from her hands.

"Eric," she began, unsure of what to say. She knew there would be questions, so the best solution was to wait for them to come and deal with it from there.

"Cal, are you okay?" he asked, genuinely concerned for her wellbeing. She never let her walls down at work. Not in front of him, not in front of anybody. Something must be wrong, he thought.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Really, I promise."

He could see that she was, indeed, fine, but that wasn't enough to totally convince him.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

A moment passed between them in silence. He studied her face, she studied his eyes. She never realized just how warm and inviting they were. She felt better already.

"It's just…"

"Just what, Cal?"

She paused, trying to gather her thoughts and put them coherently.

"You ever wonder if you did the right thing, even if you know you did?"

It was a thought-provoking question. Well, it would be, if he could figure out what Calleigh meant by it.

"How so?"

"I, well…I don't really know what I'm saying. It's been a long day. A lot of people involved. You know, that sort of thing."

He nodded. It was a long day, indeed. He couldn't keep track of the number of deaths, or suspected, then disproven deaths. It was enough to make any sane person's mind go a little crazy.

"Yeah. I heard Jake showed up in the ambush on the armored truck. That true?"

Oh boy. He was going to get into it with her. Though at this point, there wasn't anything to get into. Not anymore. She and Jake were over. And it made her a little sad; but mostly, it just made her think about the past, past mistakes, and past regrets.

"Yeah. He really helped out with the case. Risked his life for it."

"Wow." Eric was genuinely impressed. He'd never liked Jake, and never thought that he was good enough for Calleigh. Never thought anybody was good enough for her. Not even himself, no matter how much he wanted to be with her.

"That's kind of what I was thinking about, actually. Doing the right thing. He…he wanted me to wait for him. Again. I've spent too much time waiting, and I told him I couldn't do it again. I know I can't…so I know I made the right decision. But it's still hard. Even though our relationship was doomed from the start."

When had she started getting so emotionally open? Calleigh Duquesne does not, under any circumstances, talk about her relationships with others beyond her girlfriends. Especially not with Eric.

She knew what was coming next. And oh dear God, she hadn't a clue what to say. The truth was, she didn't want to be alone. But the truth was, she didn't want him to see her like this. Thoughtful. Maybe a little sad. At the very least, a little vulnerable.

He opened his mouth to speak. _Here it comes, here it comes, hereitcomes…_ she thought.

"Do you want to talk about it? Or just have some company for the evening? I mean, if you don't have any other plans."

Her mind went blank. She forgot what she planned to say. Had she planned anything to say? She usually did, especially around Eric. After all, he might find out how she felt about him. Did she want him to find out? If he did, what would happen? This was too much pressure.

"Not really," she answered.

"Oh." He tried to hide his disappointment.

"I mean, I don't really want to talk about it. But I would like some company."

His eyes lit up like a tree on Christmas.

"You sure? No other plans"

"If I had any, which I didn't, I would've canceled them by now, on account of Horatio's death and all." She giggled.

"Good point." He grinned.

"Follow me home. We can order in some takeout, watch TV, you know…hang out?"

"Sounds good. I'll see you in the parking lot?"

"Yeah."

She wouldn't mind some company. And maybe, just maybe, she could rest her head on his shoulder and cuddle up next to him on her couch. Even though nothing would happen tonight, there was always the possibility of tomorrow. And she found herself a little more receptive to that idea.


End file.
